Sleepy people - the dangers of sleep deprivation

Do this test tonight when you go to bed. Put a plate on the floor next to your bed. Lie down with one hand hanging over the bed holding a spoon above the plate. When you fall asleep, the spoon will fall on the plate and should wake you up. If you don't wake up until the next day, it probably means you are 'sleep deprived'.
We live in a world of tired, sleep deprived people. We all know the importance of having a healthy diet and doing exercise, but we don't worry enough about sleeping the hours we need. We might live longer and happier lives if we took our beds as seriously as our running shoes.

So much to do, so little time
Modern society has invented reasons not to sleep. We are now a 24 / 7 society where shops and services must be available all hours. We spend longer at work than we used to, and more time getting to work. Mobile phones and email allow us to stay in touch round the clock and late-night TV and the Internet tempt us away from our beds. When we need more time for work or pleasure, the easy solution is to sleep less. The average adult sleeps only 6.2 hours a night during the week, whereas research shows that most people need eight or even eight and a half hours' sleep to feel at their best. Nowadays many people have got used to sleeping less than they need and they live in an almost permanent state of 'sleep debt', owing their bodies perhaps 25-30 hours of sleep.

Going against nature
Until the invention of electric light in 1879 our daily cycle of sleep used to depend on the hours of daylight. People would get up with the sun and go to bed at nightfall. But nowadays our hours of sleep are mainly determined by our working hours (or our social life) and most people are woken up artificially by an alarm clock. During the day caffeine, the world's most popular drug, helps to keep us awake. 75% of the world's population habitually consume caffeine which, up to a point, masks the symptoms of sleep deprivation.

Sleepy people
What does a chronic lack of sleep do to us? As well as making us irritable and unhappy as people it also reduces our motivation and ability to work. This has serious implications for society in general. Doctors, for example, are often chronically sleep deprived especially when they are on 'night call' and may get less than three hours' sleep. Lack of sleep can seriously impair their mood, judgement, and ability to take decisions. Our politicians are often 'jet-lagged' after crossing time zones. World summit meetings called to deal with a crisis often result in decisions being taken after marathon sessions when everyone is severely sleep deprived. Human error caused by tiredness contributed to the worst nuclear accident in history. Tired engineers, in the early hours of the morning, made a series of mistakes with catastrophic results. On our roads and motorways lack of sleep kills thousands of people every year. Tests show that a tired driver can be just as dangerous as a drunk driver. However, driving when drunk is against the law but driving when exhausted isn't. It is very ironic that we admire people who function on very little sleep instead of criticizing them for being irresponsible. Our world would be a much safer, happier place if everyone, whatever their job, slept eight hours a night.

SLEEP TIPS

1. Give sleep a high priority in your life
2. Listen to your body. If you feel tired, you probably need more sleep
3. Pay off your 'sleep debt' by going to bed half an hour earlier for a few weeks
4. Have a regular routine - try to go to bed at roughly the same time every day.
5. Take a nap during the day (ideally after lunch). Research has shown that short naps are very effective in restoring our energy levels and mood.
6. Make sure your bedroom isn't too hot
7. Don't use your bedroom as an office or for watching TV